Suspension control system, suspension control method and suspension control apparatus

Abstract

Disclosed are a system, a method, and an apparatus for controlling a suspension using image data captured by an image sensor. The suspension control apparatus includes at least one image sensor mounted to an own vehicle to capture image data of the surrounding environment of the own vehicle, and a controller configured to control the own vehicle based on the image data captured by the at least one image sensor, wherein the controller receives the image data from the at least one image sensor, extracts suspension control reference information including at least one of road environment information, own vehicle surrounding object information, and own vehicle state information based on the image data and/or an in-vehicle sensor of the own vehicle, and generates a control signal for controlling the height of a suspension according to the suspension control reference information.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A suspension control system comprising:
 at least one image sensor mounted to an own vehicle to capture image data of a surrounding environment of the own vehicle; and 
 a controller configured to control the own vehicle based on the image data captured by the at least one image sensor, 
 wherein the controller receives the image data from the at least one image sensor, extracts suspension control reference information based on the image data and/or an in-vehicle sensor of the own vehicle, and generates a control signal for controlling the height of a suspension according to the suspension control reference information, 
 wherein the suspension control reference information includes at least one of road environment information, own vehicle surrounding object information, and own vehicle state information, and 
 wherein the controller is configured to: 
 when the suspension control reference information indicates that a door of the own vehicle is open, further receive image data from the image sensor facing the opened door of the own vehicle, and 
 when a motion corresponding to a preset motion is sensed from the image data further received from the image sensor facing the opened door of the own vehicle or when a shape corresponding to a preset shape is sensed from the image data further received from the image sensor facing the opened door of the own vehicle, generate a control signal for controlling to lower the height of the suspension. 
 
     
     
       2. The suspension control system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the road environment information includes at least one of information on a type of the road on which the own vehicle is located, information on the road surface state of the road on which the own vehicle is located, and information on whether a bump exists on the road on which the own vehicle is located, 
 the own vehicle surrounding object information includes at least one of information on vehicles existing in the vicinity of the own vehicle and information on whether obstacles exist on the travel route of the own vehicle, and 
 the own vehicle state information includes at least one of information on whether the door of the own vehicle is open and vehicle speed information of the own vehicle. 
 
     
     
       3. The suspension control system according to  claim 2 , wherein
 the road environment information is extracted from a combination of two or more of the image data from the at least one image sensor, navigation information, and road information from an infrastructure server of the road on which the vehicle is located. 
 
     
     
       4. The suspension control system according to  claim 2 , wherein
 when the suspension control reference information includes information on the road surface state of the road on which the own vehicle is located, the controller generates a control signal for controlling the height of the suspension according to a relationship between a previously stored road surface state of the road and the height of the suspension. 
 
     
     
       5. The suspension control system according to  claim 2 , wherein
 when the suspension control reference information includes information that a bump exists on the road on which the own vehicle is located or that an obstacle exists on a travel route of the own vehicle, the controller generates a control signal for controlling to increase the height of the suspension. 
 
     
     
       6. The suspension control system according to  claim 5 , wherein
 when the suspension control reference information includes the information that an obstacle exists on the travel route of the own vehicle, the controller extracts the height of the obstacle based on the image data, and 
 when it is determined that the height of a vehicle body according to a maximum height of the suspension is larger than the height of the obstacle, the controller generates a control signal for controlling to increase the height of the suspension. 
 
     
     
       7. The suspension control system according to  claim 2 , wherein
 when the suspension control reference information includes information that the type of the road on which the own vehicle is located corresponds to a highway, a parking lot, or an underpass, information that no preceding vehicle exists in the front of the own vehicle, information that the door of the own vehicle is open, or information that the vehicle speed of the own vehicle is equal to or greater than a threshold value, the controller generates a control signal for controlling to lower the height of the suspension. 
 
     
     
       8. The suspension control system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 when a horizontal slope of the own vehicle is not zero, the controller generates a control signal for controlling the height of the suspension of each wheel of the own vehicle based on at least one of values of the pitch, roll, and yaw axes of the image data, horizon extracted from image data, and a tire pressure of the own vehicle. 
 
     
     
       9. The suspension control system according to  claim 8 , wherein
 when an absolute value of the horizontal slope of the own vehicle is larger than a preset slope, the controller generates a control signal for controlling the height of the suspension to a maximum height in a direction of decreasing the absolute value of the horizontal slope of the own vehicle. 
 
     
     
       10. A suspension control method comprising:
 receiving image data from at least one image sensor mounted to an own vehicle to capture the image data of the surrounding environment of the own vehicle; 
 extracting suspension control reference information based on the image data and/or an in-vehicle sensor of the own vehicle, wherein the control reference information includes at least one of road environment information, own vehicle surrounding object information, and own vehicle state information; and 
 generating a control signal for controlling the height of a suspension according to the suspension control reference information, 
 wherein the generating of the control signal comprises: 
 when the suspension control reference information indicates that a door of the own vehicle is open, further receiving image data from the image sensor facing the opened door of the own vehicle, and 
 when a motion corresponding to a preset motion is sensed from the image data further received from the image sensor facing the opened door of the own vehicle or when a shape corresponding to a preset shape is sensed from the image data further received from the image sensor facing the opened door of the own vehicle, generating a control signal for controlling to lower the height of the suspension. 
 
     
     
       11. The suspension control method according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the road environment information includes at least one of information on a type of the road on which the own vehicle is located, information on the road surface state of the road on which the own vehicle is located, and information on whether a bump exists on the road on which the own vehicle is located, 
 the own vehicle surrounding object information includes at least one of information on vehicles existing in the vicinity of the own vehicle and information on whether obstacles exist on the travel route of the own vehicle, and 
 the own vehicle state information includes at least one of information on whether the door of the own vehicle is open and vehicle speed information of the own vehicle. 
 
     
     
       12. The suspension control method according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the road environment information is extracted from a combination of two or more of the image data from the at least one image sensor, navigation information, and road information from an infrastructure server of the road on which the vehicle is located. 
 
     
     
       13. The suspension control method according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the generating of the control signal includes generating a control signal for controlling the height of the suspension according to a relationship between a previously stored road surface state of the road and the height of the suspension when the suspension control reference information includes information on the road surface state of the road on which the own vehicle is located. 
 
     
     
       14. The suspension control method according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the generating of the control signal includes generating a control signal for controlling to increase the height of the suspension when the suspension control reference information includes information that a bump exists on the road on which the own vehicle is located or that an obstacle exists on a travel route of the own vehicle. 
 
     
     
       15. The suspension control method according to  claim 14 , wherein
 the generating of the control signal includes extracting the height of an obstacle based on the image data when the suspension control reference information includes the information that the obstacle exists on the travel route of the own vehicle, and generating a control signal for controlling to increase the height of the suspension when it is determined that the height of a vehicle body according to a maximum height of the suspension is larger than the height of the obstacle. 
 
     
     
       16. The suspension control method according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the generating of the control signal includes generating a control signal for controlling to lower the height of the suspension when the suspension control reference information includes information that the type of the road on which the own vehicle is located corresponds to a highway, a parking lot, or an underpass, information that no preceding vehicle exists in the front of the own vehicle, information that the door of the own vehicle is open, or information that the vehicle speed of the own vehicle is equal to or greater than a threshold value. 
 
     
     
       17. The suspension control method according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the generating of the control signal includes generating a control signal for controlling the height of the suspension of each wheel of the own vehicle based on at least one of values of pitch, roll, and yaw axes of the image data, horizon extracted from image data, and a tire pressure of the own vehicle when a horizontal slope of the own vehicle is not zero. 
 
     
     
       18. The suspension control method according to  claim 17 , wherein
 the generating of the control signal includes generating a control signal for controlling the height of the suspension to a maximum height in a direction of decreasing an absolute value of the horizontal slope of the own vehicle when the absolute value of the horizontal slope of the own vehicle is larger than a preset slope.